New Learner - My Online Diary

[driving2day]

I have a question regarding stalling. My first instructor used to tell me to put the handbrake on, go to neutral, then restart the car. However, the new instructor, in whose car I stalled twice, told me I didn't need to go to neutral and can leave it in first. I suppose it is better to be safer in an exam and go to neutral, and perhaps first is for real life drivers? I'm not sure but I was wondering who is correct.

Difficult one to be precise, but if there is a danger of rolling into the priority road, then it's probably best to put the handbrake on and keep your foot on the foot brake to show the brake lights to the following driver. If there's no danger of rolling, then maybe not. If you stall half way across a road, then do as the Yanks would say, " get the hell out of there", in other words, no brake at all, clutch down, start the engine and get going. In my experience, it can depend on an examiners preferences.

Thank you for your answer. I will keep that noted.

One thing to remember about the lesson, I was looking at the wrong dial to check my speed! For some reason I was looking at the clock on the left side (can't remember but maybe my first instructor had it there) and only near the end of the lesson did I realise it was on the right.

[waremark]

One thing to remember about the lesson, I was looking at the wrong dial to check my speed! For some reason I was looking at the clock on the left side (can't remember but maybe my first instructor had it there) and only near the end of the lesson did I realise it was on the right.

There is a general message there: when you get into any car spend enough time making sure the instruments and controls are familiar and set up the way you want them (as well as the seats, belts and mirrors). In an unfamiliar car spend longer.

[driving2day]

I had another lesson and I have to say it went great, despite making mistakes but I really felt I learnt from them.

Although I probably should be used to this right now, it is making me more familiar with the simpler side, for example rolling the car when about to stop and either breaking or deciding it is okay to continue to drive.

I think I hesitate when approaching roundabouts, as I am too afraid the car from the right will come along. I don't push the car fast enough so once today I pressed the gas a bit too much but I didn't stall (instructor said I stopped by holding the clutch down).

I'm also getting more used to driving on the 'right' side of the road (or the left side should I say) as I used to have the tendency to stay on the right but I am more confident with measuring with the middle of the bonnet.

I also did a 3 point turn with little instruction.

I kept going to fourth gear today instead of second, but by the end of the lesson managed to stay on 2nd. I'm so used to other cars going to second but I think the car goes to neutral if I don't try to avoid that.

The beginning of the lesson I was getting used to doing the normal things (turning left which I used to not be good at) and so on, but by the end of the lesson I had almost perfected it all, including clutch control. I feel much better when at the end of the road and joining the main road, using clutch control to join rather than stopping with the break only. I remember when I first learnt this I was learning but didn't quite get it, but today I feel like I am now doing it naturally.

Looking forward to becoming a better driver and hopefully passing when the time is right.

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

I kept going to fourth gear today instead of second, but by the end of the lesson managed to stay on 2nd. I'm so used to other cars going to second but I think the car goes to neutral if I don't try to avoid that..

Quick suggestion on this one, if you are aimong for second and find fourth it is usually down to how you are holding the gear lever.

ALL cars will automatically find a central point in the "gate" of the gear selector, ie when you select neutral and release the lever it will go to a midway point and will always line up with 3rd and 4th so if you are needing 2nd you must always push to the left as far as it will go before pulling back into gear.

Practise a few times with the vehicle stationary, it will become obvious after a few times, you need 2nd you push then select, you need 4th you release then select

Keep it up

[fungus]

Just to back up what IVOR is saying. If you wish to engage 1st or 2nd gear, as Ivor said you will need to push the gear lever to the left. Try doing this. Turn your left hand so the thumb points downwards. Your palm will now be facing away from you. Place your palm against the gear lever knob with you thumb running down the gear lever. Wrap the fingers around the gear knob and gear lever. Although it may feel odd at first, it will be easier to push the gear lever to the left using this grip. Use this grip for 1st and 2nd gear only, and once perfected it should ensure that you don't engage 4th by mistake when going from 1st to 2nd. For 3rd, 4th and 5th, turn the hand so the thumb points upwards with the palm facing to the right. This will make it easier to engage these gears. You can practice turning your hand from thumb down to thumb up without sitting in the drivers seat.

Remember, don't rush your gear changes. Try to relax, and move the gear lever smoothly without forcing it and you should find things improve.

[jcochrane]

I kept going to fourth gear today instead of second, but by the end of the lesson managed to stay on 2nd. I'm so used to other cars going to second but I think the car goes to neutral if I don't try to avoid that..

Quick suggestion on this one, if you are aimong for second and find fourth it is usually down to how you are holding the gear lever.

ALL cars will automatically find a central point in the "gate" of the gear selector, ie when you select neutral and release the lever it will go to a midway point and will always line up with 3rd and 4th so if you are needing 2nd you must always push to the left as far as it will go before pulling back into gear.

Practise a few times with the vehicle stationary, it will become obvious after a few times, you need 2nd you push then select, you need 4th you release then select

Keep it up

Not quite all. A dog leg first gear box centralises between 2nd and 3rd. There's always an exception to prove a rule.

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

I kept going to fourth gear today instead of second, but by the end of the lesson managed to stay on 2nd. I'm so used to other cars going to second but I think the car goes to neutral if I don't try to avoid that..

Quick suggestion on this one, if you are aimong for second and find fourth it is usually down to how you are holding the gear lever.

ALL cars will automatically find a central point in the "gate" of the gear selector, ie when you select neutral and release the lever it will go to a midway point and will always line up with 3rd and 4th so if you are needing 2nd you must always push to the left as far as it will go before pulling back into gear.

Practise a few times with the vehicle stationary, it will become obvious after a few times, you need 2nd you push then select, you need 4th you release then select

Keep it up

Not quite all. A dog leg first gear box centralises between 2nd and 3rd. There's always an exception to prove a rule.

There's always one isn't there
Younger readers of this forum are now going "whats a dog leg?"

[fungus]

It's what dogs generally have four of isn't it?

[jcochrane]

It's what dogs generally have four of isn't it?

Precisely, I thought everyone knew that

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

when you select neutral and release the lever it will go to a midway point and will always line up with 3rd and 4th so if you are needing 2nd you must always push to the left as far as it will go before pulling back into gear.

Practise a few times with the vehicle stationary, it will become obvious after a few times, you need 2nd you push then select, you need 4th you release then select

Keep it up

Not quite all. A dog leg first gear box centralises between 2nd and 3rd. There's always an exception to prove a rule.

Or the MGB which centralises on 1st and 2nd and needs a pull to bring it across to 3rd and 4th. If you push you're liable to find reverse

[driving2day]

My last lesson was mainly on practising roundabouts. At first I wasn't looking left before turning at the right time, but eventually towards the end I managed to look left to see what is there but I don't think I was 100% good at it. I felt that because the roundabout bends continuously, if I look left I will end up in the lane without realising, instead of sticking to mine. I suppose it's practise though.

Another thing that I am thinking is where to take my test. I still keep hearing about the incredibly high fail rate at the test centre here. Many driving instructors mention in themselves and find that when their student goes elsewhere they end up passing better at the other centre. I know it's to do with good driving/bad driving but sometimes the time of day or a certain situation can lead to a silly fail. I think perhaps they are stricter? I don't know. There's a lot of money that goes into booking a test, so perhaps if I went to the other test centre and I failed there first time, I would feel better than failing first time at the one here because of warnings from others.

[waremark]

Another thing that I am thinking is where to take my test. I still keep hearing about the incredibly high fail rate at the test centre here. Many driving instructors mention in themselves and find that when their student goes elsewhere they end up passing better at the other centre. I know it's to do with good driving/bad driving but sometimes the time of day or a certain situation can lead to a silly fail. I think perhaps they are stricter?

I think it is extremely unlikely that the examiners have a different standard. However, a different road layout or amount of traffic will make it different and more or less difficult. I think the amount you are worrying about taking it at your local centre is such that you should not take the test until your instructor thinks you would pass at the local centre, and then you should take the test at the easier centre; I cannot see what you could lose by doing it that way.

[Horse]

I had another lesson and I have to say it went great, despite making mistakes but I really felt I learnt from them.

Although I probably should be used to this right now, it is making me more familiar with the simpler side, for example rolling the car when about to stop and either breaking or deciding it is okay to continue to drive.

Apologies, I've only just looked at this thread, and at 10 pagesI don't think I should just pop up and chip in with advice and comments.

But I will

It's worth noting that you don't have to be in the car, and with an instructor, to practice. You can do it 'in your head', it's called 'visualisation'. Here's a great article written about the technique by skydivers (they don't get much chance to practice otherwise! As the saying goes: "If at first you don't succeed, skydiving's not for you"):

http://www.flowinsports.com/files/Sport ... diving.pdf

This is them, and with a few mates:





Also . . . sit on a dining room / kitchen room chair, and think your way through the pedals, hand position for gear changes etc., get it into your head in a low-mental-pressure environment so it's one less thing to think about in the car.

Finally, rubbish gear changes might hinder your test competance, but in the real world it's good hazard perception (not the DSA's version, IMHO) and staying within your limits that will keep you alive and well.

Anyway, I'll butt out now. Good Luck!

[driving2day]

I've got two lessons to update on but I should have the day I had the lesson.

The first one I was doing roundabouts again, which I was still nervous about but the second lesson went much better.

I also have a few things to report from the second lesson.

At times I haven't put the handbrake up all the way so the car has slightly moved a little. When it happened, the instructor said it is fine to pull the handbrake without pressing the button in so it makes that creak sound and that way I will know it is fully done and the car won't move. I thought it would ruin the car and I can imagine my previous instructor saying a total no to that and I can also imagine a examiner thinking it is odd, but I don't know if really it is okay or not apart from what my instructor said.

Another thing is that I have been driving past the test centre which has a terrible fail rate for the past two lessons. One of the lessons was terrible, not my driving but the drivers in the area. I can tell it's one of those congested areas where people probably think they can drive how they want, and I know it is up to me to drive properly there but I could see how people could fail mainly because of the crazy drivers there.

For example, there was a bicycle in front of us and because the road wasn't too wide we stayed a little behind it. We were approaching a road on the left (passing by it) but not there yet. There were cars on the opposite side who could clearly see the bicycle and instead of waiting for him to pass by, the car from the opposite direction cut through to go to the road on our left which is dangerous. Not only that, but the car behind it did that too. The bicycle guy was shocked himself as he turned back to show frustration at the drivers raising his arm as in "what are you doing?"

I know this is one example but constantly in that area my instructor was moaning a different things that were happing as you may do from time to time on other roads but I thought it was constant by the test centre. The cars will drive how they want to and not give way which of course being there I will now be aware of but I felt even my instructor didn't realise how she was constantly moaning at the crazy drivers there.

Apart from that, I did two manoeuvres last lesson, parallel parking (inline with the car until the end of the other car is in line with the back part of the front mirror on the left, then turn the wheel one hour and stay like that until the car reaches two o'clock, then unwind...) and 3 point turn. The previous lesson I did reverse round the bend.

[fungus]

The advice that used to be given when applying the handbrake was to push the button in, pull the lever up, release the button. If using this method, when you've released the button, pull the lever up one click to secure. Nowadays clicking the handbrake is not frowned upon like it was a few years ago. The DSA advice is to consult the vehicle manufacturers hand book. Vauxhall advise clicking the handbrake on the Vectra as there have been cases of the handbrake not holding, which they say is because it wasn't clicked up.

When teaching reverse parallel parking you will find that there are different methods which instructors use which have been devised to be best suited to the car they are teaching in.